Financial crisis: KMC raises fee of all major hospitals

KARACHI: In order to overcome financial crisis, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has increased fees of the outpatient department, surgery, laboratory tests, and other medical services of all major hospitals being run by the KMC and issued a notification in this regard.However, medical superintendents of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation healthcare centres have termed the decision as anti-people act.Karachi Metropolitan Corporation sources confirmed that OPD fees were raised from Rs 5 to Rs 25 along with the rise in fees of surgery, laboratory test and other services of major healthcares including the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases Hospital, Sobhraj Maternity Hospital, Spencer Eye Hospital, Rafiqui Shaheed Hospital, Homeopathic Hospital Nazimabad and Solider Bazaar Maternity Home. It is pertinent to mention here that Karachi Metropolitan Corporation healthcare centres had been already facing acute shortage of medicines since last several years due to lack of funds. The health delivery system being run by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation was badly affected due to funds shortage.They said in this connection that an emergency meeting of medical superintendents of healthcares being run by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation was held at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in which participants strongly condemned the raise in fees. They demanded a withdrawal of fee raise notification. Karachi Metropolitan Corporation senior Director for Health & Medical Services, Dr Salman Kausar said, “Increase in fees of healthcare centres was just a proposal and the final decision would be taken in the light of public opinion. The fee raise proposal has still not been implemented and any notification was not issued,” he said.